Anxiety and Uncertainty in Modern Society

Abstract

The intention of this paper is to relate the various standpoints regarding anxiety and uncertainty. Within the humanities and social sciences, research is pursued in many different disciplines without much interaction between them. Everyone's thinking is based on concepts which are domainspecific, and the distinctions, methods and arguments used are the ones that are generally accepted within the discipline. The divergent conclusions constitute pieces of a puzzle that are seldom if ever put together. There are even doubts about whether such a puzzle can be put together. It can hardly be denied, however, that inspiration is to be found in a consideration of the views and findings of colleagues from other disciplines who are working on the same problems. Now that we have as our guests two prominent academics, each with specific views about our subject, we should take this opportunity to discuss together some of the sociological, anthropological, economic, philosophical and theological approaches to anxiety and uncertainty. If a number of well-known authors are to be believed, lack of trust, uncertainty and insecurity affect the most affluent and modern societies. In French one speaks of precarite (Bourdieu, 1998), in German of Unsicherheit and Risikogesellschaft (Beck, 1986), and in English of “fear”, “risk” and “insecurity” (Douglas, 1992, Furedi, 1997; Bauman, 1992, 1997, 1999). All modern Western societies seem to be afflicted with the same dismal and frustrating human experience. Belgian society is no exception to this. In recent years we have regularly been subjected to the emotional reactions provoked by sensational events in the areas of politics (Agusta scandal), justice (the Dutroux affair) and public health (dioxin, BSE, foot and mouth). Less spectacular but no less real were the results of opinion polls which showed that confidence in public institutions in general, and politics in particular, is at an all-time low. In 1981, 54% of respondents said they had confidence in the justice system; in 1990 it was 44%; in 1999, 34%. Confidence in parliament declined by 8% in the past decade. Especially noteworthy is the declining confidence in the European institutions, from 65% in 1990 to 43% in 1999 (Dobbelaere et al., 2000). A study of the changes in confidence over the short term showed that confidence in public institutions increased in 1996. The Dutroux affair caused confidence to shrink, but from 1997 onwards it grew once more, and by 1999 had reached a level that was higher than in 1996. Although public confidence remains low, this study of shortterm trends demonstrates that it is wrong to see emotional reactions to troubling public fiascos as the primary cause of lack of public confidence (Elchardus & Smits, 2000). In other words, deeper, more fundamental and slowly evolving causes must be sought. Opinion polls have also been directed to other components of uncertainty and lack of confidence, components that sociologists, following Srole (1959), have referred to with the concept of anomie. Alongside the lack of confidence in social and political institutions, they also distinguish a lack of confidence in one's fellow citizens which is closely related to the idea that in society, it is `everyone for himself' (there is no solidarity; people only look after themselves; each individual exclusively seeks power and money; success is more important than concern for others; etc.). As far as this component is concerned, in Belgium there is much less confidence in one's fellow citizens than in neighbouring countries.